An Englishman of forty years residence in Wales pontificates about politics (slightly off-message), films and trivia. Secretary of Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats. Candidate for Neath in the Westminster elections of 1997 & 2017 and the Welsh general election of 2016.

Friday, 13 November 2009

Liberal International President: "hombre con cojones"

That once darling of the Left, Daniel Ortega, was criticised by the new Liberal International president, Hans van Baalen, for his attempt to subvert the constitution. Ortega responded by banning v. Baalen from Nicaragua.

This is a good illustration for Americans that "liberal" does not mean "socialist", but I doubt if the story will get into any of the media north of the Rio Grande.

In more detail: The new President of Liberal International, Hans van Baalen, MEP, has been expelled from Nicaragua by the populist Sandinista President Daniel Ortega. Van Baalen heard of this action against him shortly after leaving the country for Costa Rica. The LI President confronted Ortega and called on him to respect the constitution which prohibits him from entering a new term as president. Van Baalen also reached an agreement with the leaders of the Liberal opposition parties BND, PLC and ALN, to combine forces against Ortega during the 2011 elections. He told Ortega: “Check out in 2011, Mr. President”. While supporters of Ortega harassed the LI delegation during a press conference, liberals outside chanted: “Van Baalen, hombre con cojones”. Van Baalen commented on the situation: "Ortega is trying to bypass this article in the constitution illegally. The violation of civil rights is not just a national matter that can be ignored." Van Baalen was in Nicaragua leading a high level delegation to several Central American countries. See coverage of the LI visit on the LI youtube-channel